Health risks amid Sandy recovery

Updated 9:27 pm, Monday, November 19, 2012

Day and night, victims of Superstorm Sandy have been streaming into ad hoc emergency rooms and relief centers, like the MASH-type medical unit on an athletic field in Long Beach.

They complain of rashes, asthma and coughing. They need tetanus shots because they have been ripping out waterlogged boards and getting poked by rusty nails. Those with back pain from sifting through debris get muscle relaxants; those with chest pain from overexertion are hooked up to cardiac monitors.

It is impossible to say how many people have been sickened by what Sandy left behind: mold from damp drywall; spills from oil tanks; sewage from floodwater and unflushable toilets; tons upon tons of debris and dust. But interviews with hurricane victims, recovery workers, health officials and medical experts over the last week reveal that some of the illnesses that they feared would occur, have begun to manifest themselves.

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Emergency rooms and poison control centers have reported cases of carbon monoxide exposure — and in New Jersey, several deaths have been attributed to it — from the misuse of generators and stoves.

Raw sewage spilled into homes in Baldwin and East Rockaway, in Nassau County, when a sewage plant shut down because of the surge and the system could not handle the backup. Sewage also spilled from a huge plant in Newark, N.J.

Health officials and experts say the risks are real, but are cautioning against hysteria. Some coughing could be due to cold damp weather. Lasting health effects from mold, dust and other environmental hazards generally require long-term, continuous exposure, they said. And the short-term effects can be mitigated by taking precautions like wearing masks, gloves and boots and removing mold-infested wallboard.